Review: Return to Oakpine by Ron Carlson

Return to Oakpine
Author: Ron Carlson
Genre: Adult Contemporary
Release Date: July 11, 2013
Publisher: Viking Adult

Description:

From a widely admired author, a poignant novel about homecoming, friendship, growing up, and growing old for fans of Richard Ford and Richard Russo.

In this finely wrought portrait of western American life, Ron Carlson takes us to the small town of Oakpine, Wyoming, and into the lives of four men trying to make peace with who they are in the world.

In high school, these men were in a band. One of them, Jimmy, left Oakpine for New York City after the tragic death of his brother. A successful novelist, he has returned thirty years later, in 1999—because he is dying.
With Carlson’s characteristic grace, we learn what has become of these friends and the different directions of their lives. Craig and Frank never left; Mason, a top lawyer in Denver, is back in town to fix up and sell his parents’ house. Now that they are reunited, getting the band back together might be the most important thing they can do.

Return to Oakpine is a generous, tender look at friendship, family, and the roads not taken, by a writer at the peak of his craft.  

Return to Oakpine is a contemporary adult novel that brings to life American life in the west in the setting of a small town called Oakpine, Wyoming. The novel focuses on four men and their friendship that has lasted for longer than they can remember. Each of them has grown up and continue to search for meaning in their lives, along with where they truly belong. The friends reunite when one of the four - Jimmy - returns to Oakpine several years after leaving because he has learned that he's dying and wants to reconnect with his old friends. Throughout the novel we get to read about each of the four friends - how their lives have turned out and how different they are from when they were in school together. We learn that they were in a band together in high school, and now that they have all returned to Oakpine, reuniting the band might just be the most important thing they can do. The story is an interesting and mostly original one. The characters were all well written and I enjoyed reading about their past when they were in school together as well as how each of their lives went after graduation. Their friendship is a very important aspect of the novel, along with other deep topics like family, grief, self discovery, and imagining what might have been. It's told with a natural pace and easy dialogue which made it a pretty quick read. Although the writing and parts of the story didn't get me fully engaged with the book or some of the characters, it was still an intriguing look into the lives of four men and the power of the friendship that they share. Recommended for fans of adult contemporary fiction who enjoy heartfelt stories of friendship and family.